Drafted into the US Army in 1967 and immediately loaned to the Central Intelligence Agency's Black Ops programs, Xander spent several years coordinating special missions for the US Government before 'renegotiating' the terms of his military service and voluntarily submitting to exile on Eynhallow Island. There, he manages an incarcerated population of unfortunates who have at some point in their lives stumbled into more information than the powers-that-be wish for them to know.

Cora "Kore Smaragdos" Alexandria Violante-Marie Elisabeth de Wittelsbach is the daughter of a free-spirited actress and a mining baron. She was raised in New York City and London trailing along with the corporate schedule of her father's business interests. She heads one of his subsidiaries, CIQ Verde, a parent corporation for the many incarnations of the infamous Vosstein Diamond Cartel.

In 1969, as Xander continued to burn through his Controllers, the US Army administered a psychological test to every man under their command. It was designed to identify subjects with resiliant psychic barriers, people with the ability to resist Xander's influence. Although the Army underestimated the extent of Xander's power, the test did find an ideal match in then-2nd-Lieutenant Rhelan Grant, who was deployed in Vietnam. He was recalled and promoted immediately to Brigadier General, then loaned to the CIA as Xander's new Control.

A voluntary resident of Eynhallow, James Marozi operates a book-smuggling business with his brother which supplies the Diamond Warrior's Resistance-owned bookstore with revolutionary literature. Outwardly committed to the overthrow of Xander's tyrranical government, Marozi seems more interested in philosophical exercises and existentialism than truly escaping Xander's rule. With Kore's arrival, he begins to see himself and his mission on Eynhallow in a new light.

The only other survivor of the shipwreck that sends Kore to Eynhallow, Shane was vivisected by Xander as an experiment in creating telepathy. Now gravely disabled, he is cared for by the Eynhallow Palace staff as they wait and hope his mental condition improves.

Melissa P. Baalba is an upstart political wonder-lawyer who was recently disbarred for unethical pracices. Di has spent four nerve-wracking months on Eynhallow. In that time, she's founded the wildly successful Satanist Party, which, due to dissatisfaction with mainstream politics has managed to crumble the two-party system of Eynhallow's government. Allied with the Protectionist Party, Di will take her place as Prime Minister of Eynhallow and attempt the first ever coalition government of the island.

Chef extraordinaire, proprietor of the most popular establishment on Eynhallow -- Farook Qureshi's Excellent Books --, and leader of the Diamond Warriors Resistance movement, Farook Qureshi seeks to train his acolytes in Eastern yogic disciplines of the mind so that, rid of all conscious thought, they will be untouchable by Xander's influence and able to mount an armed revolt. James Marozi is his second-in-command and supplier of books for his store

The most talented adept of the Diamond Warriors Resistance, Esme Jones is a skilled orator, with a singular talent for turning a crowd towards her ideals.

Latest acquisition of the Resistance, Alan and his wife and young son have traveled to Eynhallow as Presbyterian missionaries, having heard of the alarming spread of Satanism on the island.

Xander gave him a tonsure because it was amusing.